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Day 02 - The Academic Writing Process

The document outlines the academic writing process, emphasizing its six stages: understanding the audience, topic, and purpose; gathering information; forming an outline; writing the paper; and reviewing/editing the work. It includes activities for comparing academic and non-academic writing, correcting grammar, and using hedges and boosters. Additionally, it provides assignments for rewriting non-academic content into academic language and analyzing the application of academic writing features.

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26 views6 pages

Day 02 - The Academic Writing Process

The document outlines the academic writing process, emphasizing its six stages: understanding the audience, topic, and purpose; gathering information; forming an outline; writing the paper; and reviewing/editing the work. It includes activities for comparing academic and non-academic writing, correcting grammar, and using hedges and boosters. Additionally, it provides assignments for rewriting non-academic content into academic language and analyzing the application of academic writing features.

Uploaded by

piyumanthashehan310
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Day 02 - The Academic Writing Process

What is Academic Writing? 7 Features of Academic


Writing
What is Academic Writing? 7 Features of Academic Writing

Activity 01:
Compare two pieces of writing - Academic and Non-Academic
Discuss how you can see the 7 features of academic writing there.

What is academic vocabulary?


What is academic vocabulary?
Activity 02:
Correct the grammar of the sentences so that they are appropriately written in academic style.
Identify the problematic areas in each sentence of the paragraph and improve those by
converting them into formal, academic English.
Submit your answers on Moodle in PDF format.

How to use Hedges and Boosters:


Hedging in Academic Writing

https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-resources/research-based-writing/hedges-softening-claims-in-
academic-writing
The Academic Writing Process
Adapted from Marshall, 2017

Academic writing is best thought of as a process. While this process may not be identical in every academic
context, it is adopted worldwide. The following are the six stages that many academic writers go through
to produce effective academic papers:

Stage 1: Understand your audience, genre, and purpose


Before you start organizing your ideas for a writing task, you need to consider your audience, genre, and
purpose. If you consider these three factors, it will help you engage critically with your topic and write in
an appropriate style.

Audience:
Your audience is the person or people who will read your writing. At university, this includes your lecturers
who have expert knowledge of your subject and who expect you to write in a certain way. The first step
of stage 1 is to ask yourself two questions:
- Who is my audience?
- What are the expectations of my audience?

Genre:
Genre refers to different text types, for example, a summary, a lab report, a reflective report, or a
structured essay. Each type of text follows different genre conventions or rules about the organization
and style of writing. Before writing, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
- What kind of text am I writing?
- What are the genre conventions of this text type?

Purpose:
The purpose is your reason for writing. Are you taking lecture notes? Is the essay a first draft? Are you
writing an assignment for a grade? In each case, you need to think about the following questions:
- Why am I writing?
- Should I take risks or play safe?

Stage 2: Understand your topic, focus, and task


There are two common types of writing assignments: open assignments, in which you can choose your
own question to write on, and closed questions which are assigned by a lecturer. In either case, you need
to keep your writing in focus and on the task. You can do this by breaking questions down into these three
components:

Topic:
The topic is the general subject that you are writing about. You should not write too much about the
general topic; simply mention it briefly in the introduction of your writing product.

Focus:
The focus is the specified aspect, or aspects, of the topic that you will write about. Most of what you write
in the paper should be about the specific focus.

Task:
The task is what you have to do, for example, analyze, compare, or summarize. Again, most of what you
write in the paper should follow the specific task.

Stage 3: Gather information and ideas


The next stage is to begin the process of gathering information. This is usually done in one of two ways:
(a) searching for information online or in books and then adding your own ideas
or
(b) gathering ideas from your existing knowledge and then searching for information online or in books.

A) Searching for information online:


Do a keyword search in a general or academic search engine using the following strategies.

I) Use combinations of keywords from the assignment question:


Ex: EMI students, academic writing, English, difficulties, support

II) Use combinations of synonyms of the keywords:


Ex: EMI / English as a Medium of Instruction, university writing, academic essays, problems, solutions

III) Use quotation marks to narrow the focus:


Ex: "academic writing support"; "academic writing support for EMI students"

IV. Assess the reliability of the sources:


Make sure the information you select is from recognized academic journals or other reliable sources.
(Wikipedia and regular websites are not considered as reliable sources.)

B) Gathering ideas from existing knowledge:


You can gather ideas from your existing knowledge before, during, or after your search for sources. Three
strategies for gathering ideas are free-writing concept maps, and linear notes.

I) Free writing:
Write as many ideas as you can about the question. You can do this in any form or style. The main aim is
to generate ideas.

II) Concept maps:


Gather ideas with a concept map, fill bubbles with different ideas, and link the bubble with arrows or lines,
add more bubbles as needed, and describe the relationship between each group of ideas.
III) Linear notes:
Gather ideas with notes written in a line-by-line format, list categories, and take notes under headings
and subheadings.

Stage 4: Form an outline


The fourth stage is to organize your information and ideas into a coherent outline ordered logically.
Different types of written answers or papers require different structures, for example, the way you
compare two elements is different from writing about a problem and a solution. You can then keep your
outline as a focus to guide your writing.

Ex:

Stage 5: Write the paper sections


This is the stage to start writing your paper. Most written work requires an introduction, several main
body paragraphs (based on the outline), and a conclusion; include a reference list if you have brought
others' ideas into your work. Consider your writing as "drafts" through a series of which you will finalize
your writing. As you write, remember to keep your writing in focus and on the task.

Stage 6: Review and edit your work


Remember to edit your work as you write and after you have finished writing. You should edit for the
following: content (did you answer the question?); accuracy of grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation,
and appropriate style for the genre of writing (this includes formatting)
In-class assignment 1 - Individual work

Task 1:
Choose a topic related to any of your engineering courses and find a write-up produced for a non-
academic, general audience - ex: blogposts or magazine articles. Rewrite it in academic scientific
language and format (You can add more information that was not available in the original non-
academic write-up).
Word count for the rewritten version: 750-1000

Task 2:
In your rewritten version, analyse whether your write-up demonstrates the seven features of
academic writing and how it does so. Provide a written analysis

Please submit your answers in PDF format in the relevant submission box on Moodle. Please rename
the pdf with your index number.

Acknowledgement: These lecture notes include material adapted from Ms. Osanka Rathnasiri's
lecture notes.

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